After All (A Jordan Knight/Joe McIntyre Fanfiction)

13

"Joe just tell me what happened to get you so angry. Was it Jordan?"

Joe takes her in his arms. "Amber can we just forget it for now? Please? It doesn't even matter." She can hear the pleading in his voice. She doesn't want to forget it. She wants answers. But for now, she'll drop it, for Joe. She takes Joe by the hand and leads him back to his bunk. She crawls in and beckons him to join her. When he is laying next to her, she lays her head on his chest and they both fall asleep.

Amber wakes up alone in Joe's bunk. She can hear voices, it sounds like they're trying to whisper, but they aren't doing a very good job. Sleepily she crawls out of the bunk. She's suddenly wide awake when she hears her name. She tiptoes to the curtain that divides the bunk area from the living area of the bus. Amber is being as quiet as she can. She carefully peeks through the curtains. She knows Joe's is one of the voices she hears. But the other voice is too low for her to distinguish. When she looks into the living area she sees Donnie. He and Joe are sitting on the couch, Joe's back is to her. But she can see by his posture he's not happy. Donnie leans back and Amber can see his face now. This isn't a happy conversation. Donnie leans towards Joe. "Look you have to understand how he's feeling. She's his daughter, you're one of his best friends."

"Jesus Donnie, it's not like I fell in love with Jordan's daughter. He didn't even know she existed until after I was already in love with her. I can't just stop or turn it off. She's the best thing to ever happen to me. I've never felt like this before." The look on Donnie's face is pained. He doesn't think Jordan is being fair. He doesn't think he has the right to ask this of Joe. But he is asking. "Joe I get it, I really do. But you've been his friend for over twenty years. You know he's not asking this lightly."

Joe rests his elbows on his knees and puts his head in his hands. Donnie pats him on his back. "How can he expect me to just break up with her Donnie?" Donnie doesn't know what to say. He hates being in the middle of this. It hurts him to feel like he's hurting Joe. Just as Donnie is about to tell Joe to do whatever he wants to and he'll support his decision, he looks up and sees her. His eyes grow wide and he curses softly to himself, "Fuck." Joe looks up at Donnie, then he turns to see where he's looking. "Oh Amber, baby I'm sorry. I didn't want you to know about this."

"Fuck Jordan. Joe I'm putting an end to this right now." She barely gets the words out before she storms off the bus.  Joe and Donnie go after her, "Amber wait. Don't do this, not like this. Don't do this angry." She ignores Joe. She starts yelling Jordan's name as she approaches his bus. She bangs on his door. He opens it while she's still banging. She pushes him aside and walks into his bus. "Shut the door and lock it Jordan. We need to talk and Joe and Donnie are behind me. I don't want Joe here during this." Jordan does as she says. He already knows what this is about. "Amber, listen, you don't understand how it is..."

"Oh shut up Jordan. You had NO RIGHT! NO RIGHT AT ALL. How dare you try and interfere with my relationship with Joe. What or WHO I do is none of your business. You had no right to ask Joe to break up with me. NO FUCKING RIGHT!! You are not my father. Stop trying to act like you are. Stay out of my life, Jordan. I fucking mean it." Amber turns to leave, she's said what she wanted to say and that's that. Jordan stands in her way, not letting her pass. "Get out of my way Jordan."

"No. You've said your piece, now I get to explain." Amber doesn't want to hear anything he has to say. She doesn't owe him anything. He was one hundred percent in the wrong. Nothing he had to say was going to change that fact. But then she looked into his eyes. And all she could see were her own eyes staring back at her. She had his musical talent and she had his eyes. For some reason her heart softened for him. "Fine Jordan, explain."

Jordan takes a deep breath and gives her a nervous smile. "Will you please come sit down?" She does as he asks. "Look Amber, this is all new to me. And I'm sorry you feel like I interfered in yours and Joe's relationship. But you have to understand what it's like being a parent. It's hard and it's making difficult decisions to protect your kids. Parents only want what's best for their kids."

"Jordan, I'm not yours to protect. You don't need to make any difficult decisions where I'm concerned. I have a father and a mother who have done that for me my entire life. But even they don't get involved that much anymore. I'm grown, I'll be twenty-one in a couple of weeks, I'm more than capable of making my own difficult decisions. So please stay out of it. Don't interfere in my life, and especially don't try and interfere in my relationship with Joe. I'd really like to get to know you and have you in my life, but I won't hesitate to cut you out of my life if you try this again. I love Joe and he loves me. Be happy for us, or keep your opinion to yourself. Don't discuss it with Donnie or Danny or Joe. Talk to your Mom or your wife. But I don't want your displeasure getting back to Joe. Can I ask what your wife said when you told her about me?"

Jordan looks guilty, "I haven't told her yet."

Amber grins, not a good grin, more of an angry smirk. "You haven't told your wife about me yet? So you feel like you're enough of my father to ask your friend to break up with me, but not enough of my father to tell your fucking wife about me. I bet you haven't told your family about me either." Amber exhales with a huff and rolls her eyes as she stands up. "We're done here. Please respect my boundaries and don't overstep your bounds. And most importantly, don't interfere with my relationship." Jordan feels horrible after she leaves, was he being ridiculous? He doesn't know this girl. And she's right, he isn't her dad. But not by his choice. He would have raised her, maybe, if he'd been allowed to.

One thing he for sure has to do though, he has to tell his wife and his mother about her.